Share this Page

'Narrate, Curate, Share': How Blogging Can Catalyze Learning

By W. Gardner Campbell

08/10/11

As I talk at colleges and universities across the country about the blogging initiatives
I've led at the University of Mary Washington, Baylor University, and now at
Virginia Tech, my audiences consistently ask about several issues. FERPA is
one. Grading is another. But the fundamental questions have to do with the
nature and value of the activity itself. What is blogging? Is it like an online
journal? If so, how is a public journal of academic value? Should I give my students
prompts? Will they think this is merely busy work? Should their blogs be about
work done in specific classes, work done in several classes, work done outside
of class, or all of the above?

These are all perfectly legitimate questions. And while I cannot always articulate my
intuitions about the value of particular learning experiences or teaching
strategies, I have come up with a conceptual framework that explains what I
believe to be the core elements--and the essential worth--of a blogging
initiative, either within a course or across an entire program. I've built the
framework out of three imperatives: "Narrate, Curate, Share." I believe these
three imperatives underlie some of the most important aspects of an educated
citizen's contributions to the human record. And in my experience, blogging
offers a uniquely powerful way of becoming a self-aware learner in the process
of making those contributions.

"Narrate, Curate, Share" is the framework in place for the upcoming fall semester as the
Virginia Tech Center for Innovation in Learning partners with Tech's new Honors
Residential College to bring 21st-century innovation to the tradition of
residential learning with a program-wide blogging initiative. Our goal is to
enrich each student's individual learning, as well as to help the
living-learning example of the Honors Residential College to influence and
inspire the entire university. We wanted the rich individuality of each
student's voice to be able to sound within a networked conversation that could
scale across many contexts. "Narrate, Curate, Share" gave us the framework we
needed to conceptualize and articulate these goals.

Here's how we've explained these three imperatives to the honors students themselves:

Narrate. Blogs are stories. Your posts tell the story of your learning. By telling that story,
you're actually reinforcing your learning. Research shows that when people "think aloud" about what
they're doing as they're doing it, they remember the information longer and
attain mastery faster. As you blog, think of yourself as a storyteller, and
don't overlook the details that make your story rich, exciting, and above all, your
story. The story of your learning will include the work you're doing in the classroom, sure, but it will
also include the informal discussions you have outside the classroom as you
interact with your professors, your fellow students, and with all the members
of the Virginia Tech community--and beyond.

Curate. To curate your stories is to go up yet another "meta" level, where you think about the larger story of the life's work you're building as a student at Virginia Tech. To be a
good curator is to take pride in the elements of your blog and to think about
the way your larger story comes across to readers. Just as a good museum
curator arranges exhibits to draw the visitor in and heighten his or her
experience, the good blog curator thinks about how to shape his or her blog and
its contents to add value and interest to the reader's experience, and to the
entire learning community. The result is a more comprehensive awareness of
yourself as a learner and creator. You'll also be exploring the transformative
possibilities of becoming a true "digital citizen."

Share. In Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven
Johnson takes Pasteur's maxim that "chance favors the prepared mind" and
revises it for the 21st century: "chance favors the connected mind." Sharing
means finding and creating connections. It means creating a "serendipity field"
that brings new opportunities for learning and creativity. Don't just wait for
the world to come to you. Look for creative ways to get the word out about your
blog, about the blogs in your Colloquium, or your other courses, or your
residence hall. Network thyself! See "Amazing Tales Of Openness" for examples
of the wonderful things that can result.
You'll soon have your own amazing tales to contribute.

A Final Word. In his essay "How Blogging Changed Everything," Scott Rosenberg challenges us to think anew about the purposes of education: "It's a mistake to think of human
creativity as a kind of limited natural resource, like an ore waiting for
society to mine; it is more like a gene that will turn on given the right cues."
The Honors Residential College's blogging initiative seeks to help you turn on
that gene and lift your learning to a whole new level. So narrate, curate, and
share. Participate in what Rosenberg calls "a new kind of public sphere, at
once ephemeral and timeless, sharing the characteristics of conversation and
deliberation."